Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Need for monitoring mechanism at schools stressed

CHENNAI: Absence of proper monitoring mechanism and documentation of data posed a major challenge in controlling school drop-out rates across Asia Pacific countries, speakers at a seminar on ‘Putting children back in school’ observed on Saturday.

While national enrolment rates have gone up in most countries, a major percentage of students who fall under the category were not equipped with basic learning and writing skills, said S.Venkataraman, the official in-charge of Capacity Building in Education Planning, Monitoring, Learning Achievement and Literacy Assessment of UNESCO, Bangkok.

Addressing the seminar organised by the Association of British Scholars (ABS) and East West Centre Alumni Association at the British Council in the city, Mr.Venkataraman said the UNESCO has drafted indictors for a comprehensive assessment of literacy rate. It has been encouraging countries to record individual literacy skill of their citizens using the assessment tool.

Educational system should also focus on health and nutrition and sensitise students to the hygiene and dietary habits. Better coordination among various governmental departments was crucial in bringing a positive change in the quality of education. Teachers should be trained to handle children with various degrees of learning difficulties and curriculum be made more contextual, he said.

Referring to Anakavur process, a project of UNESCO at the village near Tiruvannamalai, he said rural students face greater challenges such as long-distance commute and lack of basic needs in schools. Honorary advisor Sarva Siksha Abhiyan M. P.Vijayakumar detailed the projects initiated by SSA. The activity-based learning methodology has evoked encouraging response from both the students and teachers.

The Manager (Projects) of British Council (South India) Samyuktha Balakrishnan and President of ABS P. M. Belliappa spoke.

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